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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. SOHINNELLER & J. T. JONES.

GAR GOUPLING LINK.

N0. 403,147. Patented May 14, 1889;.

WdJAMZ V- fanc Q (No Model.)

2 SheetsSheet J. SGHINNBLLER & J. T. JONES.

GAB. OOUPLING LINK.

No. 403,147. Patented May 14, 1889.

UNITED V STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB SOHINNELLER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, AND JOHN T. JONES, OFIRON MOUNTAIN, MICHIGAN.

CAR-COUPLING LINK.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 403,147, dated May 14,1889.

Application filed November 21, 1888. Serial No. 291,435. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JACOB SOHINNELLER and JOHN T. JONES, residents ofPittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, and ofIron Mountain, in the county of Menominee and State of Michigan,respectively, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oar-CouplingLinks; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description thereof.

Our invention relates to the links employed in coupling cars, generallyknown as coupling-links, its objects being to provide a link which iselastic, so that it will spring or yield slightly when the heavy strainor jar is brought upon it, to increase the strength of the link, and toprovide a link which can be formed out of steel, such as the steelemployed in railroad-rails, and therefore to provide a means forutilizing the old rails in the manufacture of car-links.

To these ends my invention consists, generally stated, in a car-couplinglink formed of a continuous band of metal wrapped in several layers orstrands and having the several strands united at one or both ends, saidstrands being unconnected in the central portions thereof and saidstrands being preferably curved or sprung in the central portions toimpart elasticity to the link.

It also consists in certain other improve ments, which will behereinafter more particularly set forth.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, wewill describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top view showing one form of ourimproved coupling-link where the strands are wrapped one upon the otherand united only at one end. Fig. 2 is a central cross-section of thesame. Fig. 3 is a face view of another form of the link, in which thelayers or strands are wrapped side by side; and Fig. 4 is alongitudinal. section of the same. Fig. 5 is a plan view of another formof our improved link, in which the layers or strands are united at bothends of the link; and Fig. 6 is a central cross-section of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

Our improved coupling-link is preferably formed of steel,and for itsmanufacture we pre fer to employ strips or bands of steel formed fromold rails, as in the construction of the said link the necessity of aperfect weld of the parts is overcome, and therefore, though theordinary rail-steel cannot well be perfectly welded, it forms a qualityof strip or band which is well suited for the manufacture of ourimproved coupling-link and provides a very cheap material from which tomanufacture the same. The link may, however, be formed of otherqualities of steel, or may be formed" of wrought-iron.

Our improved link is formed of a continuous band, a, of iron or steel,as above stated, this band being wrapped in several layers in anysuitable manner, three forms of our improved links being shown in thedrawings.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the band a, having about the cross-section shown inFig. 2, is wrapped upon a suitable mandrel or formed in other suitablemanner, the layers 1 2 3 4 5 being wrapped one upon the other, as shown,and the inner and outer ends, ff, of the band being brought to one endof the link. In forming the link shown in said figures, we prefer, inorder to obtain elasticity in the couplinglink, to form centralportions, e, of the inner strands, 1, 2, 3, and 4, inwardly curved orbent, as shown, the curving or bending of the said layers or strandsstarting from the bent ends d g of the link-body, and extending in on agradual spring or curve. The inner strands are curved or bent more thanthe outer strands, as shown in the drawingsthat is, the strand 1 extendsinwardly farther than the strand 2so that there is a slight space, 1),between them, while the strand 2 extends in farther than the strand 3,which in its turn extends in farther than the strand 4, like spaces, 1),being left between said strands, and the strand 5 being formed straightor without any curve or bend between the bent ends at g of the link. Toprovide room for the extension of the several strands of the link, wehave provided like spaces, as at c,

between the severalstrands at one end of the linlcsuch as at the endcZthe layer or strand 1 being proportionately shorter than the layer orstrand 2, and the space 0 being left between them, while the strand 2 isproportionately shorter than the strand 3, and the like space 0 is leftbetween them, and similar spaces are left between the strands and i andat and 5, so that when the strands at the end g of the link are weldedtogether or are united together by any suitable means, in case of heavystrain or jar coming upon the link, the inner strand, 1, will receivethe strain, and the pressure or strain will first tend to draw saidinner strand, 1, straight, overcoming the curvature or spring in thecenter thereof, and close the space 1) between the strands 1 2, and thispressure will draw the end of the strand 1. against the end of thestrand 2, closing the space 0 between said strands, when the strain uponthe link will be sustained by the strands 1 and 2, which will yield orspring together until the strand 2 is drawn against the strand 3,closing the spaces Z) 0 between them, the strand being thus drawn orcarried by the one strand or a greater number of strands,

according to the pressure or strain brought upon the link. In case thepressure is very heavy the curved or bent inner portions of the severalstrands are drawn out straight and the several strands are forcedtogether against the outer strand, 5, which, as it will not yield,enables all the strands to bear the strain equally and to sustain anexceedingly heavy weight. The ends f of the strands can be united to thebody of the link in any suitable manner, and in said Figs. 1 and 2, asthe several strands are wrapped one upon the other, the ends farebrought to one end of the link, and in order to secure the partstogether I prefer to heat and weld together the several strands orlayers at this end of the link, as, though the steel cannot well be perfectly welded, a stick-weld can be formed and the parts can be so unitedas to held against the strain brought upon the link, where the severalstrands are bent up one upon the other, as shown.

In Figs. 3 and i a different form of link is shown, this link embodyingsubstantially the improvements shown in the link above described; butinstead of the several strands or layers being wrapped one upon theother, the said strands or layers are wrapped side by side,substantially in the same manner shown in a spiral spring, except thatthe link is of proper length. and width for car-coupling purposes. Insaid link the ends f of the continuous band (I, are brought to one endof the link, and the several layers or strands are unit-ed together bywelding, as above set forth. In order to obtain the desired elasticityin the coupling, however, the central strand, 3, is generally madelonger than the others, and it is straight between the bent ends (Z 1 ofthe link, while the central portions, 6, of the strands 2 i on each sideof said strand 3 are slightly sprung or curved, as shown in Fig. 4:, andsaid strands when. so curved are slightly shorter than. the strand 3,andthe central portions, (2, of the strands 1 and 5 are sprung or curvedmore than the strands 2 and l, and said strands are slightly shorterthan the strands 2 and i, the spaces Z) being thus left between theseveral strands at about the center of the link, and when said link isin use the coupling-pin coming first in contact with the outer strands,1 and 5, which strands sustain the strain until the central portionsthereof are drawn into contact with the strands 2 and 4, and then thefour strands 1, 2, 4, and 5 sustain the strain until their centralportions are drawn into line with the central strand, 3, and their freeends are drawn into line with each other, when all the strands bear thestrain together.

In the coupling-links shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the several strands orlayers are wrapped together, the one upon the other, the ends f of thecontinuous band (6 being brought to one end of the link, and the centralportions, 6, of the several strands of the link fitting close againsteach other, so that practically no spaces are left between the saidstrands.

Both end portions, (Z and of the link are.

welded or otherwise united together; but the central portions betweenthe end portions are left free, the several strands fitting against eachother, but not being united. In order to obtain the necessary elasticityin the link, the said central portions, 0, between the bent ends thereofare formed inwardly curved or sprung, as shown in said figure, all thoseportions of the strand being given approximately the same curvature orspring, and as the ends of the link are united together by welding orotherwise it is evident that when the link is in use all the strandsthereof act to sustain the load, whether it be light or heavy, and thenecessary spring action is obtained by the curved or bent centralportions of the several strands or layers, which are free to mox e incase of any heavy strain being brought against the link.

In forming our improved link of whatever form maybe desired, after theband a has been rolled to the proper size and shape it is first broughtto a suitable bending heat and wrapped upon a mandrel by any suitablemechanism,provision being made during the wrapping operation orafterward for imparting the desired curvature or spring to the centralportions of the strands, as above de scribed. The portions of theseveral strands of the link which are to be united together are thenheated and welded or united by any suitable means, and the link is thenproperly tempered, so forming the complete couplinglink. As the severallayers or strands are bent around each other in an oblong form, asshown, and the ends of the said strands are properly secured, it isevident that we are in this form of link enabled to obtain very greatstrength, even though a perfect welding of IIO tween them and thewrapping of the strands one upon the other cause the locking or holdingof the strands in position; and for that reason we are enabled to employin the manufacture of the link a metal which cannot be perfectly Welded,and can therefore employ steel for the manufacture of the link, soobtaining in the metal much greater tensile strength than in theordinary iron employed for making coupling-links, and at the same time,as the several strands when subjected to the heaviest strain act tosustain each other, it is evident that a much stronger link is formedthan the ordinary coupling-link heretofore employed.

As the link employed can yield or spring under the lighter strain orjars, it is evident that the link overcomes much of the jarring to thecars and the parts connected by the coupling-pins and draw-heads, andovercomes to a great extent the liability of breaking either of the linkor the coupling pins under sudden or heavy strain.

As the link can be formed of a Bessemer steel and worn-out railroadrails provide metal which is well suited for the manufacture of thelinks, it is evident that by the utilization of these rails for theformation of the bands from which the links are made the cost of thelinks can be very materially re ers'or strands, and having the ends ofthe band united to the body of the link, some of the layers or strandsbeing curved or sprung at or near the center of the link to impartelasticity thereto, and one or more of the layers or strands beingstraight between the bent ends of the link, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

3. A car-coupling link formed of a continuous band of metal, said bandbeing wrapped in several layers or strands, the one upon the other, andhaving the ends of the band united to the body of the link,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. A car-coupling link formed of a continuous band of metal, said bandbeing wrapped in several layers or strands, the one upon the other, andhaving some of the layers curved or bent at or near the center of thelink to impart elasticity thereto, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

5. A car-coupling link formed of a continuous band of metal wrapped inseveral layers or strands, and having the several strands united at oneor both ends, said strands being unconnected in the central portions thereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. A car-coupling link formed of a continuous band of metal Wrapped inseveral layers or strands, and having said strands united together atone end and unconnected at the other end and in the central portionsthereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof We, the said JACOB SOHINNELLER and JOHN T. J ONES,have hereunto set our hands.

JACOB SOHINNELLER. JOHN T. JONES.

Witnesses as to Jacob Schinneller:

J. N. CooKE, RoBT. D. TOTTEN.

Witnesses as to John T. J ones:

JAMES I. KAY, ROBT. D. TOTTEN.

